Recording medium accomodating case

ABSTRACT

A recording medium accommodating case includes a main body, a lid and a joint portion. The main body is formed with a disk storage area and a cartridge storage area. On the lid, a booklet storage area is formed. The disk storage area includes a protrusion engaged in a center hole of a disk, a supporting portion which is brought into contact with a rear surface of the disk to support the disk, and a disk fall preventive portion which is formed in an outwardly projecting manner from an upper side surface of the protrusion and engaged in the center hole of the disk. The cartridge storage area includes a cartridge holding portion which comes into contact with a side surface of a cartridge to hold the cartridge, and a cartridge fall preventive portion which is formed in an inwardly projecting manner toward an inner surface of the cartridge holding portion. On the booklet storage area, a booklet holding portion having a space to store and hold a booklet in a direction of a thickness of the lid and faced to the disk storage area is formed. In addition, when the main body and the lid are closed, the booklet storage area is faced to the disk surface thus preventing the disk from falling.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a recording medium accommodatingcase. More specifically, the invention relates to a novel recordingmedium accommodating case capable of storing a plurality of kinds ofrecording media such as an optical disk, e.g. a digital versatile disk(DVD), a memory cartridge or the like, and a booklet such as aninstruction manual and etc.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Conventionally, with respect to an accommodating case capable ofaccommodating a plurality of kinds of recording media such as a disk, acartridge and etc., there is known Japanese Patent Laying-open No.11-59761 [B65D85/57] (Prior art 1) laid-open on Mar. 2, 1999. This Priorart 1 is concerned with a disk storage case provided with an opticaldisk storing portion on a case main body and a floppy disk storageportion on a lid.

[0005] In addition, with respect to a disk storage case designed toprevent the disk to fall, there is known Japanese Patent Laying-open No.7-44020 [B65D85/57] (Prior art 2) laid-open on Oct. 24, 1995. In thisPrior art 2 is provided with sandwiching protrusions on both of a casemain body and a lid in such a manner as to sandwich or clamp anon-signal portion on an outer peripheral portion of the disk from bothsurfaces when the lid is closed.

[0006] In the Prior art 1, the center hole of the optical disk is heldon the case main body by forcedly inserting a holding protrusionthereinto, and therefore, there was a disadvantage that a holding forcefor holding the optical disk decreases due to frictional wear or thelike if the optical disk is frequently attached and detached.Furthermore, there was also a problem that the optical disk or thefloppy disk is easily fallen out of the holding portion due to an impactcaused when storing and carrying the case, thereby causing a surfaceflaw or a deformation of the disk when fallen.

[0007] In the Prior art 2, the disk is clamped in a state wherein thelid is closed, and therefore, there was a possibility that the disk isfallen out of the case and damaged due to a fall of the case caused bycarelessness at a time when the disk is retrieved by opening the lid orwhen the disk is stored. Furthermore, the clamping protrusion formed onthe lid is not made to serve a double purpose to store a booklet such asan instruction manual, and therefore, in a case that a booklet storageportion is to be separately formed, there was a problem that the numberof parts or items increases, and hence resulting in an expensive cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention toprovide a novel recording medium accommodating case.

[0009] It is another object of the present invention to provide arecording medium accommodating case capable of preventing a recordingmedium from falling out of a holding portion, and serving a doublepurpose to prevent the recording medium to fall and holding a booklet.

[0010] It is still another object of the present invention to provide arecording medium accommodating case capable of preventing deteriorationof a holding force of the recording medium.

[0011] A recording medium accommodating case according to the presentinvention comprises a main body formed with a disk storage area capableof storing a disk having thereon a center hole and a cartridge storagearea capable of storing a cartridge; a lid having a booklet storage areacapable of storing a booklet; and a joint portion which joins the mainbody and the lid to each other, wherein the main body and the lid arefreely opened and closed in a state where the both are faced to eachother.

[0012] The disk storage area includes a protrusion, a supporting portionand a disk fall preventive portion. The protrusion is engaged in thecenter hole of the disk. The supporting portion comes into contact withone main surface of the disk to support the disk. The disk fallpreventive portion is formed in an outwardly projecting manner from anupper side surface of the protrusion, and engaged in the center hole ofthe disk.

[0013] The cartridge storage area includes a cartridge holding portionand a cartridge fall preventive portion. The cartridge holding portionis brought into contact to a side surface of the cartridge to hold thecartridge. The cartridge fall preventive portion is formed in such amanner as to be projected toward an inner peripheral surface of thecartridge holding portion.

[0014] A booklet holding portion is formed on the booklet storage area.The booklet holding portion has a space for storing and holding thebooklet in a direction of a thickness of the lid, and is faced to thedisk storage area.

[0015] Furthermore, when the main body and the lid are closed, thebooklet holding portion is faced to the other main surface of the diskthus preventing the disk to fall.

[0016] The aforementioned protrusion includes a first protrusion formedin a fixed manner and a second protrusion formed in an elasticallydeformable manner, and the disk fall preventive portion is formed on anupper side surface of the second protrusion.

[0017] Furthermore, the booklet holding portion is constituted in such amanner as to have a ribbon-shaped portion faced to a portion of the diskstorage area when the main body and the lid are closed.

[0018] In a preferred embodiment, the booklet holding portion is made tobe detachable against the booklet storage area, and includes aribbon-shaped portion having engaging claws formed at both end portionsthereof, and being deformable in a width direction of the bookletstorage area. On the booklet storage area, engaging holes engaged withthe engaging claws are formed. In addition, by making the engaging clawsof the ribbon-shaped portion and the engaging holes to be engaged toeach other, the booklet holding portion is attached to the bookletstorage area.

[0019] Furthermore, the supporting portion is constituted of aring-shaped first supporting portion having a diameter bigger than thatof the center hole of the disk and smaller than that of an outerperiphery of the disk, and a second supporting portion brought intocontact to at least a portion of the outer periphery of the disk.

[0020] In addition, the second supporting portion is formed with a firstsupporting wall abutting on a portion of an outer peripheral sidesurface of the disk, and a second supporting wall lower in height thanthe first supporting wall and abutting on an outer peripheral edge ofone main surface of the disk.

[0021] According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent arecording medium from falling out of a holding portion when holding therecording medium such as a disk thus making it possible to obtain arecording medium accommodating case capable of serving a double purposeto prevent a recording medium fall and to hold a booklet.

[0022] In addition, according to a preferred embodiment, the recordingmedium is not pressed with pressure thus allowing to preventdeterioration of a holding force of the recording medium.

[0023] The above described objects and other objects, features, aspectsand advantages of the present invention will become more apparent fromthe following detailed description of the present invention when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024]FIG. 1 is a plain view showing a recording medium accommodatingcase of one embodiment according to the present invention, wherein FIG.1 (a) is a plain view of an entire recording medium accommodating case,FIG. 1 (b) is an enlarged plain view of a center portion of a diskstorage area, and FIG. 1 (c) is an enlarged plain view of a cartridgestorage area;

[0025]FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the recording mediumaccommodating case of one embodiment according to the present invention,wherein FIG. 2 (a) is a perspective view showing a stored state while alid is opened, and FIG. 2 (b) is a perspective view showing a state thatthe lid is closed; and

[0026]FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a state that a disk is storedin the recording medium accommodating case of one embodiment accordingto the present invention, wherein FIG. 3 (a) is a sectional view showinga cross section at line A-A in FIG. 1 (a), FIG. 3 (b) is an enlargedsectional view of a main body side in FIG. 3 (a), and FIG. 3 (c) is anenlarged sectional view showing a state that the lid is closed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0027] Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, a recording medium accommodatingcase 10 includes a main body 11, a lid 12 and a joint portion 13. Themain body 11, the lid 12 and the joint portion 13 are integrally formedby an injection molding of a resin material. The recording mediumaccommodating case 10 opens and closes the lid by bending the main body11 and the lid 12 in such a manner so as to be faced to each other whilethe joint portion 13 plays as a center portion.

[0028] The main body 11 is formed with a side wall 111 a on a sideopposite to a side adjacent to the joint portion 13, and side walls 111b on two sides adjacent to the side wall 111 a. At upper and lower areasof the side wall 111 a, a pair of engaging claws are formed. Likewise,the lid 12 is formed with a side wall 121 a on a side opposite to a sideadjacent to the joint portion 13, and side walls 121 b on two sidesadjacent to the side wall 121 a. At upper and lower areas of the sidewall 121 a a pair of engaging protrusions are formed at positionsrespectively corresponding to the engaging claws 112. When the lid isclosed in such a manner that the main body 11 and the lid 12 are facedto each other, the engaging claws 112 and the engaging protrusions 122are engaged to each other so that a closed-lid state is held.Furthermore, a concave portion 113 is formed on a side surface to whichside the lid is opened (a side surface constituted by the side wall 111a and the side wall 121 a) so that a user can easily open the lid withboth thumbs (see FIG. 2 (b)) in opening the lid.

[0029] On the main body 11, within an internal area surrounded by theside walls 111 a and 111 b, a disk storage area 14 and a cartridgestorage area 15 are formed in such a manner as not to be overlapped toeach other within the same plane. In the disk storage area 14 an opticaldisk such as a compact disk (CD), a DVD or the like, for example, isstored. In the cartridge storage area 15 stored is a memory card, acartridge or the like.

[0030] The disk storage area 14 is constituted of a protrusion 141, afirst supporting portion 142 and a second supporting portion 143. Theprotrusion 141 is formed of a plurality of circular-arc-shaped portionsto hold the disk 20 by engaging with a center hole 21 of the disk 20.The protrusion 141 is constituted in such a manner as to form thecircular-arc-shaped portions which inscribe the center hole 21 with acombination of a first protrusion 141 a and a pair of second protrusions141 b. More specifically, the first protrusion 141 a is formed in ashape of a cylindrical post having circular-arc-shaped portions at upperand lower sides as seen from the plan view, and the first protrusion 141a is constituted in a fixed manner thus impossible to deformelastically. The second protrusions 141 b are formed at predeterminedspaces from both side ends of the first protrusion 141 a and standupright at positions on a line crossing at right angle to the protrusion141 a to form a circular-arc-shape, and thus constituted in anelastically deformable manner. The second protrusions 141 b are formedwith disk fall preventive portions 141 c in an outwardly projectingmanner such that the second protrusions 141 b become deformed inattaching the disk 20 thus becoming smaller than an internal diameter ofthe center hole 21, and prevents the disk 20 to fall by engaging in thecenter hole 21 after the disk 20 is attached (see FIG. 3 (b)). That is,the disk fall preventive portions 141 c are formed as protrusions havingcircular-arc-shape as if to project outwardly from side surfaces ofupper portions of the second protrusions.

[0031] The protrusion 141 is formed in such a manner that a width of aportion (a diameter in a vertical direction in FIG. 3(b)) excluding thedisk fall preventive portions 141 c is somewhat smaller than that of thecenter hole 21, and a width including the disk fall preventive portions141 c (a diameter of an upper surface in a horizontal direction in FIG.3(b)) is somewhat bigger than that of the center hole 21 so that it ispossible to loosely engage in the center hole 21 of the disk 20. Due tothis, the protrusion 141 does not press the center hole 21 and the diskfall preventive portions 141 c effectively prevent the disk from fallingout of the protrusion 141 even if the center hole 21 of the disk 20 isengaged with the protrusion 141. Therefore, the disk 20 is not to fallout of the disk storage area 14 even if the case 10 falls due tocarelessness. Furthermore, in comparison with a case that the disk isheld by crimping the center hole of the disk, it is possible toeliminate a disadvantage that there occurs deterioration in a holdingforce due to a frictional wear as a result of frequent attaching anddetaching of a disk. The second protrusions 141 b are elasticallydeformed in such a manner as to be slant toward an inner side (directionto the center) when the disk 20 is attached or detached thus easy toattach or detach the disk 20.

[0032] The first supporting portion 142 is formed of a ring-shapedprojection having a diameter bigger than that of the center hole 21 ofthe disk 20 and smaller than that of an outer periphery of the disk 20.The second supporting portion 143 is constituted in such a manner as tocome into contact to at least a portion of the outer peripheral portionof the disk 20, and formed of a first supporting wall 143 a and a secondsupporting wall 143 b. The first supporting wall 143 a is formed in sucha manner as to be brought into contact with a portion of an outerperipheral side surface of the disk 20. The second supporting wall 143 bis formed in such a manner as to be lower in height than the firstsupporting wall 143 a and come into contact to an outer peripheral edgeof a rear surface (one main surface) of the disk. That is, the firstsupporting wall 143 a is formed outside from the second supporting wall143 b, and the second supporting wall 143 b is formed at a same heightas the first holding portion 142. Due to this, when the disk 20 isstored in the disk storage area 14, an outer peripheral side surface ofthe disk 20 is exposed at a portion corresponding to the secondsupporting wall 143 b. Therefore, in retrieving the disk 20, by grippingthe outer peripheral side surface of the disk 20 at positionscorresponding to the second supporting wall 143 b to raise the disk, itbecomes easy to retrieve the disk 20 from the disk storage area 14.

[0033] The cartridge storage area 15 is constituted of a cartridgeholding portion 151 and a cartridge fall preventive portion 152. Thecartridge holding portion 151 is formed of a rectangular-shaped wallsurface approximately same size as a cartridge 30 so as to hold thecartridge 30 by bringing the wall surface into contact with a sidesurface of the cartridge 30. The cartridge holding portion 151 is formedin such a manner that its lower portions of right and left side surfacesare lower in height than other portions. Therefore, when the cartridge30 is stored in the cartridge storage area 15, a portion of lower rightand left side surfaces of the cartridge 30 is exposed. By gripping thelower right and left side surface of the cartridge 30 to raise thecartridge 30, it becomes easy for a user to retrieve the cartridge 30from the cartridge storage area 15.

[0034] The cartridge fall preventive portion 152 is formed in anoutwardly projecting manner toward an inner surface of the cartridgeholding portion 151. More specifically, the cartridge fall preventiveportion 152 is formed in an inwardly projecting manner from upper rightand left portions of the wall surface of the cartridge holding portion151 so that an upper surface of the cartridge 30 is held when thecartridge 30 is stored in the cartridge storage area 15. Therefore, whenthe cartridge 30 is stored in the cartridge storage portion 15, thecartridge fall preventive portion 152 holds the upper surface of thecartridge 30 thus making it possible to prevent the cartridge 30 to falldue to an impact such as a fall of the case.

[0035] In the lid 12 a booklet storage area 16 is provided in aninternal area surrounded by side walls 121 a and 121 b. On the bookletstorage area 16 a wall surface 161 and a wall surface 162 are formed. Anengaging hole 163 is formed on each of the wall surface 162 and the wallsurface 121 a. Furthermore, a booklet holding portion 17 is detachablyformed on the booklet storage area 16. The booklet holding portion 17 isconstituted of a ribbon-shaped portion 171 having an approximately “V”letter shape and deformable elastically to a right and left direction (awidth direction of the booklet storage area 16), wall surfaces 172extending downwardly from right and left side surfaces of theribbon-shaped portion 171, and engaging claws 173 formed at a lower endportion of the wall surfaces 172. The booklet holding portion 17 isdetachably attached to the booklet storage area 16 by engaging theengaging claws 173 with the engaging holes 163 formed on the wallsurface 162 and the wall surface 121 a of the booklet storage area 16.On the booklet storage area 16 a storing concave portion 164 (a space tostore and hold the booklet) is formed in a thickness direction of thelid 12 by the ribbon-shaped portion 171 of the booklet holding portion17 and the wall surfaces 172 (see FIG. 3 (a), (c)). That is, the bookletstorage area 16 can store and hold a booklet 40 by inserting the booklet40 such as an instruction manual or the like into the storing concaveportion 164.

[0036] When the booklet holding portion 17 is attached into the bookletstorage area 16, and the main body 11 and the lid 12 are closed, theribbon-shaped portion 171 is faced to the disk storage area 14, that is,a portion of a surface (the other main surface) of the disk 20 thuspreventing the disk 20 to fall. More specifically, on the bookletholding portion 17 a first projection 174 and a second projection 175are formed on a surface of the ribbon-shaped portion 171. The firstprojection 174 is formed of four hemispheric projections provided at acenter of the ribbon-shaped portion 171, and faced to a center surfaceportion of the disk 20 thus preventing the disk 20 to fall when the mainbody 11 and the lid 12 are closed. The second projection 175 is formedof two hemispheric projections provided on each right and left area ofthe ribbon-shaped portion 171, and faced to an outer peripheral surfaceedge of the disk 20 when the main body 11 and the lid 12 are closed thuspreventing the disk 20 to fall (see FIG. 1 (a), FIG. 3 (c)). Therefore,in a state wherein the main body 11 and the lid 12 are closed, thebooklet holding portion 17 holds a surface of the disk 20 both at acenter portion and an outer peripheral edge thus making it possible tosecurely hold the disk 20 at a predetermined position, and in addition,effectively prevent the disk 20 from falling due to an impact such as adrop. Furthermore, in comparison with a case that a bookletstoring/holding and a disk fall prevention are separately formed, thebooklet holding portion 17 can serve a double purpose to store/hold abooklet and prevent a disk to fall so that it is possible to make aneffective use of a space, and to reduce a cost with the reduced numberof parts or items.

[0037] In the above embodiment, although a description is made withregard to a case that the booklet holding portion 17 is detachablyattached into the booklet storage area 16, it may be also possible tointegrally form the booklet holding 17 and the booklet storage area 16.

[0038] Although the present invention has been described and illustratedin detail, it is clearly understood that the same is by way ofillustration and example only and is not to be taken by way oflimitation, the spirit and scope of the present invention being limitedonly by the terms of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A recording medium accommodating case,comprising: a main body formed with a disk storage area capable ofstoring a disk having a center hole and a cartridge storing area portioncapable of storing a cartridge; a lid having a booklet storage areacapable of storing a booklet; and a joint portion joining the main bodyand the lid, wherein the main body and the lid are freely opened andclosed in a state where both are faced to each other, said disk storagearea includes a protrusion engaged in the center hole of said disk, asupporting portion brought into contact to one main surface of said diskto support said disk, and a disk fall preventive portion formed in anoutwardly projecting manner from an upper side surface of saidprotrusion and engaged in the center hole of said disk, said cartridgestoring area portion includes a cartridge holding portion for holding acartridge by abutting on a side surface of said cartridge and acartridge fall preventive portion formed in inwardly protruding mannertoward an inner surface of said cartridge holding portion, said bookletstorage area has a space to store/hold said booklet in a direction of athickness of said lid and a booklet holding portion facing to said diskstorage area is thereon formed, and when said main body and said lid areclosed, said booklet holding portion is faced to the other main surfaceof said disk thus preventing said disk to fall.
 2. A recording mediumaccommodating case according to claim 1, wherein said protrusionincludes a first protrusion formed in a fixed manner and a secondprotrusion formed in an elastically deformable manner, and said diskfall preventive portion is formed at an upper side surface of saidsecond protrusion.
 3. A recording medium accommodating case according toclaim 1, wherein said booklet holding portion is constituted in such amanner as to have a ribbon-shaped portion which is faced to a portion ofsaid disk storage area when said main body and said lid are closed.
 4. Arecording medium accommodating case according to claim 1, wherein saidbooklet holding portion is detachably attached to said booklet storagearea, and includes a ribbon-shaped portion having an engaging clawformed at an end portion thereof and deformable in a direction of awidth of said booklet storage area, said booklet storage area is formedwith an engaging hole engaged with said engaging claw, and by making theengaging claw of said ribbon-shaped portion and said engaging hole to beengaged with each other, said booklet holding portion is attached ontosaid booklet storage area.
 5. A recording medium accommodating caseaccording to claim 1, wherein said supporting portion includes aring-shaped first supporting portion having a diameter bigger than thatof the center hole of said disk and smaller than that of an outerperipheral diameter of said disk, and a second supporting portionadjacent to at least a part of an outer peripheral portion of said disk.6. A recording medium accommodating case according to claim 5, whereinsaid second supporting portion is formed of a first supporting wallbrought into contact to a portion of an outer peripheral side surface ofsaid disk, and a second supporting wall lower in height than the firstsupporting wall and brought into contact to an outer peripheral edge ofone main surface of said disk.